No Syria peace without end to foreign support for rebels, says Bashar Assad

Syrian leader tells United Nations envoy Lakhdar Brahimi that foreign
governments must stop aiding armed opposition if a political resolution to
the civil conflict is to succeed

A Free Syrian Army fighter fire an anti-tank missile towards what the FSA said were locations controlled by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the eastern Hama countrysidePhoto: REUTERS/Ismail Altaftanazi

By Our Foreign Staff

2:15PM GMT 30 Oct 2013

Syrian President Bashar Assad told the Arab League-UN envoy on Wednesday that foreign support for the armed opposition must end if any political solution to the country's conflict is to succeed, state-run media said.

Assad's comments to Lakhdar Brahimi during their meeting in Damascus cast further doubt on already sputtering efforts to convene an international peace conference to try to end the country's civil war.

"For any political solution to be successful, it is crucial to halt support for terrorist groups and the countries that sponsor them, facilitate the entry of terrorist mercenaries and offer them money, weapons and logistical support," Assad was quoted by Al-Ikhbariya television as telling Mr Brahimi. "The Syrian people alone are entitled to draw the future of Syria. Any solution must be approved by them and reflect their wishes away from any foreign intervention."

An end to foreign interference was "paramount to prepare the circumstances for dialogue and put clear mechanisms that achieve this goal", the Syrian leader said.

Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are among the Syrian opposition's most active supporters, providing financial and logistical support to the rebels. The United States and some of its European allies have provided non-lethal aid, although Washington has promised for months to send light arms to Western-backed opposition fighters.

The United States, Russia and the United Nations have been trying for months to bring Syria's government and the opposition together in Geneva to attempt to negotiate a political resolution to the conflict. After repeated delays, efforts renewed in earnest last month to organise the conference, but the Syrian opposition remains deeply divided over whether to attend, while the government refuses to sit down with the armed opposition.

On Wednesday Arab and Western officials suggested international powers were unlikely to meet their goal of convening the talks next month, due to differences between Washington and Moscow over how the opposition should be represented at the negotiations.

The failure of the main Syrian National Coalition to take a clear position over the talks were also contributing to what was expected to be a delay of up to one month, the officials told Reuters.

"A clearer picture will emerge when the United States and Russia meet next week, but all indications show that the Nov. 23 goal will be difficult to meet," said one of the officials involved.

Western and Gulf Arab countries opposed to Assad said following a meeting in London last week that the opposition should be represented by a single delegation with the Syrian National Coalition as its "heart and lead". But Russia regards the SNC as just one sector of the opposition and has proposed that several delegations, including Damascus-based figures tolerated by the government, attend the talks.

That position was echoed by Hassan Abdul Azim, head of the opposition National Coordination Body, who said after meeting Mr Brahimi in Damascus that delegates should attend not under the banner of the coalition but as part of a united "Syrian National Opposition".

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meanwhile warned the failure of the talks would result in a "huge threat" to the region.

"Open objections have surfaced against holding this Russia-US meeting (dubbed Geneva II), not only among Syrian sides but also among capitals, both in neighbouring and non-neighbouring states," he said during a visit to Athens

"We must not allow this initiative to fizzle out," he added, arguing that the overthrow of Assad's regime through military means would create an "extremist" state and pose a "huge threat to those living in Syria and the area".

The diplomatic push aims to end a conflict that has killed more than 100,000 people and forced some 2 million more to flee the country. Now in its third year, the civil war pits a primarily Sunni Muslim rebel movement against a government whose security forces are stacked with members of Assad's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights activist group said rebels killed at least 17 people in an attack on a predominantly Alawite village in the central province of Homs early Wednesday.

Observatory directory Rami Abdurrahman said the opposition fighters killed six government troops at a checkpoint in Shallouh before sweeping into the village itself, where they killed 11 residents.

The SANA state news agency blamed the attack on a "terrorist group," and said 13 locals were killed. The report did not mention any slain soldiers. The government refers to those trying to topple Assad as "terrorists".